1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the food service industry. More specifically, the invention relates to systems for displaying and providing temperature controlled food items.
2. Description of Related Art
Food trays and counters are ubiquitous to the food service industry. Some foods trays are used to store in-process food items and other are used to serve prepared food items to a consuming public. Most food trays are rather simple support surfaces for the food items and typically made of stainless steel or other sanitary materials. A plurality of food trays mounted together is used to create a display shelf unit that supports a tiered assembly of food items for display and selection. Some display shelves include heat lamps directed at the food items to maintain a desired food temperature. Typically, these heat lamps are mounted above the food items under an upper food tray or other support surface.
However, some display food items need cooling rather than heating. For cooling, conventional wisdom directs the food service industry to a refrigerated enclosed display case with doors. The refrigeration unit includes a fan that forces refrigerated air within the enclosed case. Customers must open the doors to retrieve the cooled items. In some instances, a single level food tray without doors is used to support cooled food items and the food tray is cooled by an underlying refrigeration unit with coils in contact with the food tray.
However, there are some instances in which a cooling and heating capacity would be appropriate in the same display shelf unit. Conventional wisdom directs against such dual capabilities because of the competing thermal needs that cancel each other. Thus, there remains a need to provide a dual use display shelf unit.